Cocosette: Where are the kisses?
by Endless Feeling
Summary: While unpacking in her new home, Hotaru came across an extra box with a note from her father taped to it. Oh, this she definitely had to share with Kokonotsu and Saya, who had volunteered to help her move. At the end of it, they all gained a little more than what they expected, but they're happy with the results too.


"Hey, check it out!" Hotaru said as she brought down a box to her living room. Kokonotsu and Saya were sitting by table, drinks and snacks strewed about. Several other boxes covered the room, most of them opened.

They were helping Hotaru move to her summer house, this time definitely. For the moment, she would work at Shikada Dagashi, and sometimes she would make business trips to there and there to start building her own company, but she would always return to her new home.

"Dad sent me a selection of imported dagashi to taste test!" she exclaimed excitedly as she set it down on an empty table on the table. "He wanted to become the first supplier for my company of course, 'but daaaaad', I told him, 'I have to step out first and make my own contracts!', so instead he tried to tempt me with his new business plan, imported Dagashi!" She recounted while looking for a pair of scissors.

"Imported? From where?" asked Kokonotsu, looking at it with curiosity.

"Oh, just about everywhere!" she cut open the seal, revealing the trove inside. "There's from UK, Hawaii, Romania, New Zealand, Israel, Argentina, Venezuela..." she counted off as she searched through the box.

Saya scooted over closer to see the contents inside. "But, if it's imported, wouldn't it be expensive? Then it wouldn't be Dagashi, right?"

Kokonotsu was surprised at her accurate remark, but Hotaru smirked, clearly expecting the question from her. "As always, Saya-shi, you see through the contradictions and paradoxes! You understand what truly matters!"

The girl with the fang blushed, embarrassed at the high praise. "Y-you think so, huh?"

"But of course! And you're right, normally importing the candies would add costs above the rest of the dagashi, thus it most likely wouldn't sell as well.

"But you must remember! The Shidare company is a Dagashi maker, so instead of importing the candy, Dad wants to import the candy makers!

"The candy makers...? You mean...!" Kokonotsu caught on her meaning.

"That's right! We made deals with the companies and established a exchange program of sorts. We bring the artisan hands to make their wondrous art locally!"

"That's amazing! International flavors at their original prices!" Kokonotsu started looking through the box too.

"Mhmm! For example-"

"Oh, Look!" Saya reached inside the box and held her find high to see. It was a rectangular sweet, covered by a brown wrapper. Its name, written in bold letters that took the whole length of the candy, read 'Cocosette'.

"Look, Coconuts, you have your own candy!" she handed him the sweet, grinning.

"An excellent find, Saya-shi!"

"Well, look at that! Is it actually made of coconut?" he asked as he unwrapped it. It was a cookie bar with a white filling. He broke it by half and took a bite. "Hmmm! It ish!"

"Swallow before you speak, dummy! You'll bite your tongue." Saya scolded him good-naturedly.

*_Gulp_* "Yeah, it is. And it's really good!"

"Oh? Gimme!" she reached for the other half and ate it. "Hmmm~ It's gooood. Gimme more!"

"It's delicious, isn't?" Hotaru nodded sagely. "Actually, I already know most of the Dagashi here, but It's been sometime since I had one like this, especially Venezuelan candies. Even though Nestlé owns Savoy, the national sweet-making company in Venezuela, there aren't any of their products in the outside world, except in Spain and even there it's hard to find them."

"Oh... Well, here!" Saya broke her piece by half and offered one to the violet haired girl.

As she took it, her eyes were filled with a sudden longing. "Dad always brought us along for his trips in search of new inspiration for making Dagashi. I made lots of friends, wherever we went.

"But, we haven't been to Venezuela for a long time because of... You know..." she trailed off, looking crestfallen.

Saya and Kokonotsu shared a look of confusion and concern.

"Ah, don't worry about it." she waved it off. "I just have some friends there, so I worry, sometimes, with what's happening. They are fine, though, and we keep contact."

"You know that you can tell us if something's wrong right?" Saya reached out to her arm.

"Huh?"

"We're your friends. You can come to us with anything that worries you." Kokonotsu reassured her.

Hotaru was shocked for a moment before she smiled warmly. "Aw, shucks guys, thanks. It doesn't even affect me directly, you know? But, thanks."

She shook off the rest of the melancholy and took the cocosette from the boy.

"The candy industry in Venezuela is managed largely by Savoy. The cocosette wasn't even among it's first products, as they mainly focused in chocolates, but it's still a 60 year old candy!"

"Wow, 60!?" Saya awed.

"Hmmm, that isn't that old?" Kokonotsu wondered.

"It isn't?!"

"Compared to us, not really!" Hotaru confirmed. "Most of America's history is relatively new, due to the connection of both worlds in the XV century, meaning that, besides cultural history, their records start just some 7 centuries ago.

"However!" She retrieved another candy bar, called Samba, unwrapping it to reveal a chocolate bar. "Cacao, the seed of the chocolate, originates from Venezuela! The indigenous people offered chocolate to their gods, even!" she broke a square from it and popped it in her mouth, smiling. "No wonder why they did, though.

"But I digress. The cocosette is one of the most popular snacks not just because it's sweet flavor, because of how it was advertised, kisses!"

To the two other teenagers, the mood shifted so quickly it almost gave them whiplash.

"K-k-kisses!?" Saya squeaked, red faced.

"Y-you mean, like, the hersheys?" Kokonotsu asked, trying to regain control.

"Not at all! Completely different. Their slogans were 'Kiss me', 'Eat it with kisses' and 'Where are the kisses?'." Hotaru shot him down, completely unaware of their meltdowns.

"Now, time for a pop-quiz!" she exclaimed as she stood and struck a Pose. "What is the meaning behind those words!?" she asked the dreaded question.

They both threw an urgent look at the other, but when their eyes made contact they remembered the question and turned away at the same time.

"W-well-"

"M-maybe-"

They both started, but realising the other was speaking they shut up.

Hotaru kept expecting an answer, unaffected.

Tentatively, Kokonotsu managed to get his voice out. "D-does it mean, that if you share a cocosette with someone, y-you have to k-kiss them?"

"Buzzzzzzt!" the girl crossed her fingers in an 'X'. "Try again!"

He breathed a little easier now, though not sure if he was happy or disappointed he was wrong.

"Then..." Saya, also less tense, started to really think about what she knew of Dagashi, and the answer came easily to her. Kokonotsu had also reached to the conclusion, but she spoke first. "It doesn't actually mean anything, right?"

"Ding Ding Ding! That is correct! It was just the advertising campaign. It could mean nothing or several things! Just like Japanese dagashi!" She sat down beside the sandy blonde as she explained. "For example, one commercial made the comparison from stealing a bite to stealing a kiss!"

Then, she reached for Saya's half, still on her hand and bit into it. "See? I just stole you a kiss."

Needless to say, both Saya and Kokonotsu blue screened.

"However, Kokonotsu-kun, I was expecting you to catch on sooner. Still, it shows how amazing Saya-shi is, she could make a good Dagashi store co-owner!"

The implications miraculously went over their heads, still frozen in place. Hotaru didn't notice, already scouring for another Dagashi.

"Let's see here, packed biscuits, dried beans, Krembos... Oh, there are some toys too! Tops, Bolas Criollas, a diabolo; I'm so excited! The kids are going love this!"

However, when she didn't get an answer, she finally noticed her friends were completely unresponsive, still red faced. "Are you guys coming down with something? Do you feel ill?"

"... fair" Saya muttered finally.

"Hmm?"

"Not fair!" she yelled, tears pooling. "How come you just stole my first kiss like that!?"

"Eh?" Hotaru blinked owlishly.

"Give it back!" Saya grabbed Hotaru by the frills of her shirt before kissing her full in the mouth.

"Hmmphh-!" came Hotaru's muffled exclamation.

3 seconds passed before Saya's brain finally caught up to her. Surprised at herself, she let go of the girl and stumbled back, eyes wide.

"I-I..." she touched her lips, still tender. "I can't believe I did that." without wanting, a giggle escaped her, panic mixed with unbelief and relief. "I actually just kissed her." she giggled again, a little unhinged, but sure that it was better that than having a full panic attack.

And, she realised, a kiss felt very nice. So she latched onto that to keep riding the high, lest she'd become a crying mess, and approached the frozen girl.

She took a moment to appreciate that for once, Hotaru had been shocked silent, and was furiously blushing for reasons other than Dagashi, and Saya thought, _'I did that', _awakening a very curious feeling inside her.

Softly, she held the purple haired girl's face, snapping Hotaru back to reality. "You don't mind if I steal another, do you?" Saya asked, looking straight into her eyes.

Instead of her reply, she heard a noise between a moan and a whine coming from around the table. Coconuts' gaze was fixed on them, expecting, wanting. It gave Saya a thrill she didn't have a name for.

Hotaru involuntary whined when the sandy blonde turned away, as if begging for attention. Saya took that as a good enough confirmation and took the other girl's lips again.

Her lips were soft, very much so. She tasted sweet, in fact, she taste like the coconut cream filling. Saya took her time, this time prodding with her tongue, little by little. And to her elation, Saya could feel Hotaru exploring in her mouth as well. They kept going until they had to break away to breathe. The girl was blushing a wonderful shade of red, filling Saya with a sense of pride.

'Eat your heart out, Pocchi.'

She glanced back at Coconuts, who never once had turned away, and back at Hotaru and she knew what she wanted. But she had to ask Hotaru, and wasn't it a very uncomfortable thing to ask?

You were just kissing her and now you want ask her for you to go kiss your crush, her not-quite-boyfriend?

Then why were you kissing her in the first place!?

Because you just met her but you feel you've known her since forever and she makes you feel all those complicated and achingly familiar feelings.

You can't just kiss someone and then kiss someone else right in front of them, what is wrong with you!

What am I thinking!?

You know how they feel about each other. You already knew for a long time now, even if they haven't made it official yet, and you were fine with it.

Apparently not, I guess.

It only mattered that Coconuts was happy, nothing else. If he was happy, then I was. It was always like this.

Until it wasn't, until Hotaru being near mattered.

Then it's fine. Hotaru's here with him now.

No it isn't. You won't ever be happy like that.

Didn't I like Coconuts!? Do I like Hotaru instead!?

You know the answer

You're so greedy

I'm sorry I couldn't decide and be done with one.

"Saya."

Suddenly the storm was silent, and she realised her eyes were closed, her breath was coming shortly with quiet sobs, two hands were cupping her face while thumbs pushed her tears away while another was rubbing circles on her back.

Saya opened her eyes to see Hotaru, smiling softly to her. To her side was Coconuts, who was the one rubbing her.

"Saya, it's okay." Hotaru said, and as she looked into her eyes, Saya realised that she meant it. It was okay, it was perfectly fine.

Moments like this, when Hotaru seemingly gained almost super sensorial perception were nothing new, but they still surprised her every time.

And for her to look at Saya with understanding, without judging or feeling jealousy when most would and be right to, when she was doing something so wrong it probably didn't exist a word for it; Saya chose to believe her that it was right.

Coconuts lips were slightly rougher, slightly drier due to a lack of consistent hydration, but just as sweet. He was shocked for a moment at the sudden kiss, but snapped back quickly and started responding in kind.

She broke the kiss, feeling a mixture of accomplishment, happiness, and sudden tiredness. She was feeling weak on the knees and she just wanted to rest on something warm.

"Oh, careful there. You OK?" he asked as her head dropped on his shoulder.

"Hmmm, 'ust tired... Whacha call it? An emotional crash or smthmthm."

"Oh! Let's carry her to my bed." Saya felt two pairs of arms helping her stand and guiding her to a futon.

"M sorry, I neeeeeeaaaa" she yawned midway. "aaahhhh, just give me an hour, kay?"

Saya had the habit of taking the minimum amount of space possible in a bed, and she immediately curled her arms and legs as sleep took her.

Meanwhile, Kokonotsu and Hotaru sat near her against the wall. They kept quiet for a while, until her breath leveled and she fell asleep.

"S-so..."

"So!"

They both started at the same time, prompting them to laugh quietly.

"So. That was a thing!" Hotaru chirped.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Honesty time? I kinda knew she was in love with you."

"For real?!"

"Of course, you coconut head!" she giggled. "Well, no, I'm lying a bit. I discovered the fact, and very recently too. But it's kind of obvious in retrospective."

He was slightly stumped, both at the revelation of Saya's feelings and Hotaru knowing about them. "Huh. When did you know?"

"Well, I may or may not have, accidentally, totally not intentionally, overheard Saya talking to Kou-san a week ago, when I returned."

* * *

_"So you're just going to give it up?" _

_"Literally what does it matter to you?" _

_Hotaru was back pressed against the wall. It seemed like the Endou siblings were having a heated argument in the back of the store. This was a call for Dagashi! She tried to tune them out as she searched through her pockets for apology Dagashi which she had prepared in advance, though for another reason. _

_If Kokonotsu's bruise from 'that day' was of any indication, Saya had real mean right hook. _

_However, the conversation turned up in volume. _

_"You're not even trying!" _

_"There's nothing to try about!" there was a loud sound of metal being stricken. "Coconuts made his choice, that's all there is to it." _

_"You don't know that!" _

_"Bullshit, don't insult me like that. You know how he gets when it comes to her." _

_"Doesn't he at least deserve to know? He can only choose one of the presented options, and you are not putting yours forward." _

_"Deserves? Now you're just pulling shit out your ass. Look," she sighed, incredibly tired. "It's better like this. Coconuts will become a mangaka, Hotaru will return and I... I don't know, maybe I'll fall in love again? I mean, I did it twice, what's another more?" _

_"And you're seriously telling me you're going to let go of those feelings you had since you were a toddler? Do you even know what is it not to be in love...? Hol up, did you say ***twice**!?*" _

_Saya didn't answer. Instead, Hotaru heard with bated breath footsteps hurriedly approaching the entrance. _

_"What do you mean twice!? Who-!" any further questioning was shut when the door was slammed in Kou's face. _

_"Shit." he murmured as he started walking away to find Hotaru, caught like a deer in headlights, just at the side of the store. They stared for a moment. _

_"Shiiiiiiit." he groaned. _

* * *

"She was backing away, for you, because your happiness mattered more than hers. But I just couldn't... help but feel _angry _at her!"

"Angry?"

"Just what is she doing, deciding the answer for herself without giving you the chance to hear her feelings! Without giving herself a chance to be happy! That's what I thought, but I guess that's rich coming from me. I also felt angry at myself, because I was too self centered to see it until it hit me right in the face that I did that to her.

"I love all of my friends, and I just couldn't allow her to hurt because of me, not anymore. So I was going to discuss with you two the possibility of a polyamorous relationship, because I love her too, even though until now it was completely platonic. Not now, however, because that kiss was _very _nice. Don't you think so? "

"I-I, uhhhh... Yeah, it was."

"Wonder where she learned that?"

"I... Don't know? She never dated anyone, even though more than a few guys confessed to her. I guess the 'why' is obvious now."

"Hummm, guess she's a natural... I, er, once or twice entertained the thought, with her. And you?"

"I, well, I was trying not to, cuz... you know."

"How chivalrous of you~"

"Har har, but I did, before, a lot... And I also imagined the two of you together."

"Did you, Kokonotsu? How naughty~!"

"Which am I, chivalrous or perverted, then!" he grinned.

"Both, you can be both." she smiled back as she rested her head on her knees.

"Both..."

Kokonotsu let the word sit in the air, his mind thinking.

"Say, we both care for Saya a lot, right?"

"Indeeeed." Hotaru playfully dragged the word.

"We like Saya. We... love Saya. I just- she's always been near, so I just thought that would be the one constant in my life.

"I fear I'm taking her for granted. We all changed, when you arrived, and nothing can reverse that. I think we did for the better, but I don't want Saya to change so much she would leave. When you left, I was… listless. Apparently I had a dead fish stare for some time, even."

"I'm sorry for saying this, but if she were to leave like that I just wouldn't know what to do."

"Don't be sorry, ok? That was a mistake I made, and I wouldn't want her to make the same one."

"I want her near you," Hotaru admitted. "because she makes you happy, but I also want her near me. She's pretty, she's smart, she always has that delectable smell of coffee.

"I meant it when I said she would make a good Dagashi Store co-owner. More specifically, I wanted her to be _my _co-owner. With just a little training she could become a Dagashi master, just like you and I."

"That'd be nice. Maybe you could make a sweet and coffee shop." Kokonotsu nodded. He could picture it; the three of them, Kou, his dad, Hajime, all of them as one big family. He liked the idea.

"Huh, I don't know about that." Hotaru rejected his idea.

"What."

"Dagashi is more than just sweets, you know!"

"Of course." he sighed in relief and amusement. Hotaru will always be Hotaru after all.

They fell in comfortable silence, observing the sleeping form of the girl.

"Still, just what did I awaken in her? To think she would take my first like that-"

"Hold up, WHAT!?" yelled Saya as she violently pushed herself up.

"Saya?! Weren't you asleep?" Kokonotsu yelped.

"I mean, I was about to, but you two started talking and- wait, forget that, what do you mean your first?!"

"My first kiss of course! And my second, too!"

Saya stared at her, mouth agape, before collapsing again on the futon, face against the pillow. A muffled groan could be heard.

Kokonotsu realized then, she heard their conversation. All of it, even. He covered his red face, embarrassed.

She dragged her red face up, though she couldn't meet either of their eyes. "I thought... You two by now..."

Kokonotsu chuckled awkwardly. "It's just, been so hectic with Hotaru moving here..."

"Fufu..." Hotaru giggled. "You took both our first kisses, Saya."

"Kill meeeeee..." she groaned back into the pillow. Then, she rose up again, a sudden fire in her eyes.

"Then, can you two kiss? Right here and now." Saya asked, determined.

"Uuhh, what, now? I mean-" Kokonotsu hesitated for a moment, still awkward about the notions of romance.

"Oh? Sure!" Hotaru didn't. She grabbed the boy by the shoulders and hoisted herself on his lap before drawing him in a kiss.

It's funny. She was looking at the scene she most dreaded before, the one she thought it would cause her a heartbreak twice over, but watching them, how Hotaru's hands moved across his chest, how Coconuts arms encircled her, how she could feel her lips tingling as if she was the one being kissed right now, how her heart buzzed alive and how warmness pooled in her stomach, she could watch them all day.

'This is fine. Just watching is fine, too, sometimes.'

She means it, this time.

"So, like what you see?" Hotaru gave her a side glance, acting coy as they broke the kiss.

"Yes, very much." Saya replied, slightly dazed.

"So, what do you say, Saya, would you remain by our side?" Kokonotsu made the big question.

"Absolutely." she answered instantly. She smiled, red faced and misty eyed.

Hotaru was glowing as she extended her arm to her. Kokonotsu's arm wrapped her when she was near enough, and she fell somewhere in between them, closing the circle.

"I'm in love with you two." Saya admitted, finally. Red faced, with a mouth full of unsaid apologies for later, and a heart filled with joy, but she finally confessed her feelings.

Hotaru and Kokonotsu shared a glance and smiled.

"We love you too." Kokonotsu tightened his hold.

"I guess the Cocosette advertisement was far more effective than expected, Fufufu!" Hotaru chuckled, her mind once again filled with snacks. The others laughed lightly as well, endeared by her and her antics.

"I'm sure it'll be a hit with teenagers." Kokonotsu commented on it. He didn't want to say it to not break the moment, but his legs were falling asleep.

"A Dagashi and Coffee shop, with a manga studio in the second floor, I like the sound of that." Saya could picture it in her mind. Here in the country, or maybe in a quiet corner of the city.

It sounded wonderful.


End file.
